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Monday, July 04, 2016

Ralph La Fontaine, Managing Director, People & Talent, AVADO insist, "In times of change, people cling to the past."

Photo: iStock

Take the UK’s Victorian education system, for example. By and large,
learning today is still carried out the way it always was - an authority
figure at the front of a room, delivering a monologue to students, with
time for Q&A if you’re lucky.

That is why, despite the emergence of electronic learning techniques,
many still wonder if elearning is “as good as” the supposed exemplar of
classroom learning.Well, it is time to say elearning is not “as good as” classroom learning - it is far better.

Even in professional learning and development, people typically still
see electronic delivery as a poor cousin to face-to-face, and it is
often mainly used to deliver uninspiring content, like simply clicking
through a series of slides on compliance training.But things are changing.

1. Technology has been proven to workDuring the financial crisis, businesses began to see what elearning
really has to offer. Out of necessity, many started cutting back on
business travel expenses, instead beginning to choose remote,
digitally-delivered learning courses online, rather than on-site or at
training centres. We have since seen a huge uplift in the numbers of
businesses moving in the same direction.

And why not? Whilst earlier elearning tools were stilted and awkward,
modern platforms have found the knack to making the technology blend
into the background, letting the content take centre-stage. Now it’s all
just learning. In fact, freed from the tyranny of too much technology,
people have found a way to learn multi-modally, moving in and out of the
“real” and “digital” worlds.

2. Remoteness powers individual preferencesIn recent years, a lot has been written on how individual learners
each have different “learning styles” that must be catered to. Much of
this theory has now been debunked - but that doesn’t mean students don’t
still have distinct characteristics, and even physiologies, that can
hinder or help their learning.

For instance, neuroscience research has shown that blood sugar levels
present in the body can impact workers’ decision-making. Learners who
are less energetic may be automatically disadvantaged, performing worse
in workplace group training or tests at times of the day that are
incompatible with their sugar digestion.

But remote learning at a time of their choosing allows learners to
match the mode and context of learning to their own unique pattern,
giving them the best chance of comprehension.Read more...

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About Me

Hello, my name is Helge Scherlund and I am the Education Editor and Online Educator of this personal weblog and the founder of eLearning • Computer-Mediated Communication Center.
I have an education in the teaching adults and adult learning from Roskilde University, with Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) and Human Resource Development (HRD) as specially studied subjects. I am the author of several articles and publications about the use of decision support tools, e-learning and computer-mediated communication. I am a member of The Danish Mathematical Society (DMF), The Danish Society for Theoretical Statistics (DSTS) and an individual member of the European Mathematical Society (EMS). Note: Comments published here are purely my own and do not reflect those of my current or future employers or other organizations.